Let me tell you a story of tragedy and deepest regret. Where someone stood tall over a kingdom – and watched it run broken through their fingers.

Above all, it is a tale based on true occurrences. Only names have been changed (mainly for giggles).

Meet Ethel.

She’s got a knack for restoring pieces of furniture. From ruin to revelation, she can turn any old chair, table, chest of drawers or nightstands into the feature everyone’s room needs. It was a hobby at first, but Ethel’s work soon started tongues wagging.

Before Ethel knew what was happening, she had begun to build a waiting list from friends, relatives, friends of friends, her children’s teachers – even the postman heard about her flair for furniture revival and was on the list for a shabby-chic dining table.

Ethel knew exactly what she was doing with sandpaper and a chisel in her hand. And she was up to date with social media too. So on the advice of her family, she started a Facebook page. And then an Instagram account dedicated to images showing her projects.

Ethel was savvy with hashtags, so her followers begun to flock and her Facebook page was in rude health too.

But now Ethel faced a fork in the road. She had taught herself the basics about social media advertising. She had gleaned valuable info from other accounts on what to post and how often. But it took time. And now the list of work she had to complete showed no sign of shrinking and the time she was taking learning about social media – she could have spent it working on what mattered most.

Her product and her family.

But Ethel couldn’t face handing over something so valuable to someone else. And so she continued to burn the midnight oil as she taught herself how to be a Facebook guru and an Instagram maven.

Next though, was a website.

Ethel had read some very good blogs about starting small businesses and knew that if her company wasn’t online, then she was missing out on sales.

So, instead of hiring a professional to create and write her site, Ethel gave into her worries and did it herself.

It took weeks. But she got there in the end. Was it shouting the right message though? Was it designed in the best way? Did it tell every visitor how good her services were?

Well, Ethel didn’t know yet as she hadn’t finished that part of her marketing book.

Soon, she began to fall behind on her orders. Instead of cultivating a reputation for swift and excellent service, Ethel’s company became tardy and unreliable. The list of orders withered. As did Ethel’s enthusiasm for learning more as she panicked and tried to work harder to save her fledgling business.

The trouble is – the problem was never about how hard Ethel worked.

The death knell of her company was sounded because of her failure to delegate. To understand that a business owner NEVER does everything. It’s impossible.

And outsourcing tasks to qualified professionals actually IMPROVES the control you have over your business. Because you can keep targets in sight, you can focus on core objectives rather than extraneous tasks.

The moral of this yarn?

Concentrate on your strengths. The reason your business exists is because you’re really good at something. Keep that in sight and the other things?

Let them be completed by people who are skilled in those fields.

Don’t be an Ethel.

Hire a copywriter to take care of your messaging. Not only will you reduce stress – but you’ll soon notice a major improvement in customer engagement.

Click the button and take your company a step further.